Overnight new digest - Family of tragic ex-nurse want answers, pensioner dies after being hit with car, and more ex-footballers speak out about 'abuse'

Colin Ainscough

Catch up with all the latest national and regional news with our morning roundup

REGIONAL NEWS

CORONER DEMANDS ANSWERS FROM BLACKPOOL VICTORIA HOSPITAL FOLLOWING TRAGIC DEATH

THE family of a Leyland woman whose death sparked an investigation into care at a Lancashire hospital today said: “This can’t all be for nothing.”

Former auxiliary nurse Pamela Briggs, a stalwart of St Catherine’s Hospice, died on her 69th birthday following a routine heart operation.

A coroner has written to Blackpool Victoria Hospital NHS Trust interim chief executive Wendy Swift warning the process for dealing with serious incidents, which he said is not robust or thorough enough, is putting lives at risk.

A burglar whose rooftop heist prompted the closure of a Preston street - and the retirement of one of the city’s longest serving jewellers - has admitted his guilt.

Mark Bentley, of Woodplumpton Road, Ashton, Preston, admitted a single offence of burglary over the £8,000 break in at Hackler’s in Lune Street, Preston city centre, a Lancashire Police spokesman said.

A headteacher has warned drivers and children to take extra care around his school after a lollipop woman was knocked down

The incident happened on Thursday morning as the school crossing patrol worker was helping children to cross Stanah Road in Thornton. Elaine Ross was not seriously hurt in the incident and no children were involved.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will not force his MPs to block an SNP attempt to trigger a parliamentary investigation into whether Tony Blair misled the Commons in the run-up to the Iraq war.

Mr Corbyn has decided to impose only a one-line whip on his MPs for Wednesday's vote on the SNP bid, meaning they are not obliged to attend, and could even back the former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond's motion without fear of sanction.

Mr Salmond has drawn cross-party support for his motion calling on the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee to probe any differences between Mr Blair's public statements in the lead-up to the invasion, and private correspondence with then US president George Bush revealed by the Chilcot inquiry.

World leaders joined tens of thousands of Cubans in Havana's Plaza of the Revolution, celebrating Fidel Castro on the spot where he delivered fiery speeches to mammoth crowds in the years after he seized power.

The presidents of Mexico, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela and South Africa, along with leaders of a host of smaller nations, offered speeches paying tribute to Castro, 90, who died on Friday night.

South African president Jacob Zuma praised Cuba under Castro for its record on education and health care and its support for African independence struggles.

EXPERTS PROBE AIR CRASH THAT WIPED OUT 'CINDERELLA' FOOTBALL TEAM

Colombian authorities are searching for answers after a charter plane carrying a football team whose Cinderella story took them to the finals of one of South America's most prestigious regional tournaments slammed into Colombia's Andes mountains, killing all but six of the 77 people on board.

The British Aerospace 146 short-haul plane's crew declared an emergency and lost radar contact just before 10pm local time on Monday (3am GMT on Tuesday), according to Colombia's aviation agency. It said the plane's black boxes had been recovered and were being analysed.

The aircraft, which departed from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, was carrying the Chapecoense team from southern Brazil for Wednesday's first leg of the two-game Copa Sudamericana final against Atletico Nacional of Medellin. Twenty-one Brazilian journalists were also on board.

STRAINED AMBULANCE CREWS TOO SLOW TO REACH CRITICAL PATIENTS - REPORT

Ambulances are failing to reach dying and seriously-ill patients fast enough as the service creaks under the strain of high demand, according to a report.

Only one of the UK's 13 ambulance services, the Welsh Ambulance Service, is meeting the target to reach patients with life-threatening conditions within eight minutes, a BBC investigation has found.

Freedom of Information requests by the broadcaster found more than 500,000 hours of ambulance crews' time in England, Wales and Northern Ireland was wasted waiting at A&E to hand over patients to hospital staff.